Tag: human

Unexplainable God

Read Isaiah 55:8-9

Have you ever noticed how frequently there are times in life when we witness or experience something which does not make sense? Occasionally, new insights and understandings will help make sense of these things but not always. A change of perspective might also benefit us as we attempt to unravel the mystery. The reality is that we will never be able to explain everything which we experience in our lives. This is especially true when it comes to God.

The prophet Isaiah relays a message from God to the Israelites and to us. As part of the message, the Lord makes it clear that we will never fully  understand all of God’s thoughts and/or actions because they are not akin to human thoughts and actions. There is a mystery pertaining to God because God is spiritual and not human.

How often do we attempt to require God to adhere to human ways? We attempt to explain what the Lord thinks, does and chooses by human understanding. Our attempts to conform God’s reactions and viewpoints to our actions and viewpoints are comical when we examine them. God is much bigger than any one of us, or even all of us combined. The Lord’s insight, knowledge, abilities, and power eclipses any human level possible. Humans are finite while God is infinite. This is a good reality. 

Our goal should be to live in and accept the mystery of God. Knowing the Lord is about relationship, not being able to explain. A god who can be explained away is not a god but instead is an overly powerful human. We need a God who is beyond our explanations so we can trust God to do what we cannot.

Incarnation

Read John 1:1-14

John’s gospel account does not contain the narrative of Jesus’s birth like Matthew and Luke have done. Instead, the incarnation story is contained in what biblical scholars refer to as John’s prologue. In the prologue we hear of the Son, or Word, existing from the beginning. John tells us that the Son and God are one. The other significant aspects of the passage are the concepts of light and flesh.

John refers to Jesus as light shining unhindered into the darkness. This reminds us that the incarnation was an abrupt intrusion into the world. There is power in this light shining into the world. The light spreads to others as well. One of the reasons the Church chose to celebrate the incarnation on December 25 is because this is the darkest time for those living in the northern hemisphere where the Church was centered. The idea of light shining into their darkness was a meaningful illustration as presented by John’s gospel.

In this passage, John also speaks of the Word, or Son, becoming flesh. That is what we know as the incarnation, a deity taking on human flesh. No other faith tradition records an occurrence of this. There is a distinct separation of a god and humanity in all other religious systems. The concept that God became human and lived among humanity as Jesus is beyond understanding outside of Christianity.

John may not include the narrative of Matthew or Luke which included Jesus’s parents, shepherds, a stable, angels and a chorus of praise but John tells of the incarnation. God has become human and lived with humanity. God is as a bright, unquenchable light piercing into the darkness of the world and the lives of humans. This is what we celebrate on December 25.

Lord’s Prayer – Part 9

Read Matthew 6:9b-13

We come to the final petition in the short prayer which Jesus provided as a model. In the Roman Catholic worship liturgy, this is where the prayer ends. That is also true when we read the passage from Matthew and Luke. As we have done with other petitions, we will examine this one in two parts. The first phrase in this petition is, “Lead us not into temptation.”

The wording of this phrase is odd. What is troublesome about this wording is that it gives the impression that God would tempt us. This stands against what we find inJames where we read, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.” (James 1:13-14) Instead, our own desires entice and tempt us.

If God is not the one tempting us, then what does this phrase mean? The usual interpretation of this phrase has come to be that it is a request to help us resist temptation. Being tempted is inherent to being human. We know that Jesus was tempted at the beginning of his ministry (Matthew 4:1-11). Being tempted gives us a since that he was fully a part of the human experience. (Hebrews 4:15)

Jesus includes this phrase in the prayer since he understands the human struggle with the temptation to sin. Making the request to God for help with this struggle is a natural result from experience.

The Fit

Have you ever had to pack for an extended trip? The challenge always seems to be having enough room in the suitcase for everything you think you need to take along. Most of us have seen the cartoons or sitcom episodes which make us laugh as we watch a character sit on their suitcase to try to close it. The challenge of trying to get everything in while remaining under the weight limitations is real.

This probably arises differently for many Christians regarding God. Often we have an image of God that has been created from our reading of Scripture, our Christian education experiences, listening to sermons, and being guided by other believers. All these sources are excellent in their own way but all lend themselves to the potential of creating inaccurate images. Whether we start with a correct image or not, there also is the problem of trying to make God fit the image created in our minds.

The issue at hand is one of reversal. In the creation story found in Genesis, we hear of how God created humanity…

So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

Clearly we are to understand that humanity was created in the image of God. Unfortunately, people often want God to be created in their image. We often attribute to God characteristics which we experience in ourselves and others. Characteristics such as anger, hatred, discrimination, favoritism and vengeance. To be fair, Scripture allows God to be viewed with these characteristics at times. However, I would remind you of two important truths: Humans wrote Scripture, and humans interpret Scripture. Another challenging aspect is that in Jesus we do see God as a human, the whole incarnation thing. Jesus did display some of these human characteristics. Some human characteristics Jesus did not display.

Another challenge which confronts us when we try to have God fit into the image we have created is that if God does fit that image then we have a God with limitations. Why this is a problem is that if God is limited, then can God truly be considered a god? The image that I may be able to create in my mind is generated by my own experiences. As a person, I have limited experiences and capabilities. Yet I confess a belief in God who transcends the limits of time, space, cultures, and religions. This means that my image of God, no matter how informed, could never accurately incorporate the scope of God who I confess.

My final concern with the idea that any human, or group of humans, could ever fully say what God looks like or how God would act in a given situation is that this would remove power from God. If God fits the predicted expectations of humans, then God is not all powerful. Removing any power of God lessens God, and yet I declare that God is the source of all power.

As a Christian, I confess God to be the creator, giver, and sustainer of all. I confess God to be beyond human understanding and limitations. My confession includes my understanding that God loves all which God has created and that love extends to every person, animal, and aspect of the universe, known and unknown. You see, God is too big for me or anyone else to fit in a human-made image. My challenge is trying to live into the image in which God has created me.